They came to earth—Pestilence, War, Famine, Death—four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all. When Pestilence comes for Sara Burn’s town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking … angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed.
Too bad no one told her Pestilence can’t be killed.
Now the horseman, very much alive and very pissed off, has taken her prisoner, and he’s eager to make her suffer. Only, the longer she’s with him, the more uncertain she is about his true feelings towards her … and hers towards him.
And now, well, Sara might still be able to save the world, but in order to do so, she’ll have to sacrifice her heart in the process.
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Theodora Taylor recommended this book, and I was not ready for it!! Ah-maziiing! So original with great world building. Pestilence and Sara are one of my fave couples ever. This is one of the best books I’ve read all year.
wow. Just, Wow. I mean, WOW. How long I have been denying myself this read, I will never know. Now, all I do know, is this. It’s like something I can’t ever un-know. And all I can ever say is that you read it to get me.
At first, all I can ever think of is how the hecking hell is this supposed to be a love story…a romance novel. So truly, please excuse my mortal flaws such as impatience and stupidity. Because this is basically the ultimate idea of romance in one book. The ultimate and classic ‘love conquers all’ concept.
I don’t want to spoil any of you the joy, the delicious slow build of how love can literally and ultimately save humanity. So I won’t. Much.
Who would have ever known that such the finest gentleman to ever grace earth is in the body of Pestilence? I know nowadays progressive is “in” and I don’t really mean to downgrade it but there’s just something in (one of) Pestilence’s ideals that I wholly agree – the idea of baring your self naked and making love as the ultimate commitment to another.
I obviously read a lot of romance books, most of which are not on the conventional side, but at the end of the day, I am a traditional at heart. And by traditional, I meant the idea and purpose behind making love is the same as Pestilence’s – only ever doing it with someone I love and trust and committed with.
With that said, having this traditional ideals (seemingly prudish at that), won’t ever equate to me judging others just because their ideals are different than mine.
Ughh, I am so in love with Pestilence – otherwordly flaws and all. I think it’s mostly because he tickles me senseless with him being traditional and unconventional at the same time, which as I have inferred from up above, is my ultimate weakness among all hero types.
Ahhh, a read that actually lives up to its hype.
PS Have I actually talked about Sara as a heroine, a woman, the savior we lowly humans didn’t deserve? No? Must be lost from
all my ramblings and fawning.
Because she is…one of the greatest heroines, that is. I’d like to say that if I ever get into a situation like this, she’s def going to be my role model. At least, I hope I could ever be as beautiful and kind and strong af as she did.
I truly think that all those moments she graced dying people with her compassion and sympathy and just so much kindness is not for nothing. I mean, her love for Pestilence and vice versa did (temporarily) relieve all humankind, didn’t it?
Aaack, I could go on and on and make my post script as long as the body of the review. There is raving mad and smitten and obsessed. But then there’s just pathetic and lame and overboard. So yeah, I really needed to end this now.
smallest, softest voice: can’t wait for war!!!
Pestilence by Laura Thalassa BLEW ME AWAY!! One of the best reads not only this year, but ever! I absolutely loved this “new to me” author and this book! I’ll definitely be tuning in for more. I HIGHLY recommend this story! It pulled out the feels, had vivid imagery, and an epic love story, all while set in a post-apocalyptic world! What a treat!
I was literally unable to put this down! Great characters, great original plot, great sexual tension. I can’t wait for the next one in the series.
This is my first introduction to this author and I am so glad I picked this book up!! I could not put it down. It was fast paced without leaving the important details out that you want and need to know!! I absolutely love this book and I can’t wait until the next one comes out!!
This book was my first introduction to this author, Laura Thalassa, and let me tell you I am so thankful that I took the risk to purchase this book! This author is amazing and now I have read almost everyone of her books and counting! This is an amazing retelling of The Four Horseman. It is set into the modern world and makes you think of “What if’s?” I LOVED IT!!! The only downfall…waiting for the second installment War!! Instead of waiting I read her other series!!
it is TOTALLY AWESOME!!!! an emotional rollercoaster ride, I couldn’t wait to finish to see what happened next but I REALLY didn’t want to finish it!!! I miss the characters!!! luckily there are others to follow!!!
Absolutely loved this book to pieces.
Full gif-ied review: https://multicoloredbookreviews.home.blog/2019/01/18/pestilence-the-four-horsemen-1/
Not what I expected
Whoa! This book blew me away. I was expecting another enemy to lovers/star-crossed lovers romance. I was not expecting the deep talks about morality/immortality, and religion.
This was such an original book that pulled me in and makes me want to read more! I will definitely be checking out the rest of the series.
Sara was also such a relatable badass character!
I loved it so much!! I was sitting there reading it I was yelling at myself for loving Pestilence so much. He was a little messed up but then when you got to know him you feel bad. I loved watching him learn about humanity and watching him fall in love. I can never put into words how much I love a book. So i’m just going to end the review here and say this. I feel like the author wrote this book so well. When I first started reading this I was like there is know way she can make me like him and she didn’t just do that she made me fall in love with him. There was also humor added too which I was not really expecting but loved. It was so good but if you don’t enjoy morally grey characters then I wouldn’t read this.
It took me a while to get into this story and to even enjoy it.
Once I did though?? I couldn’t put it down. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Pestilence find is humanity. He was endearing and he made me want to hug him. lol.
Didn’t care too much for Sara though I did like how she balanced Pestilence and the story in of itself was a pretty dope I do wish we had more world building/backstory for the horsemen.
I will say I can not wait for War’s story!!
I’ll admit that the cover for Pestilence won me over at first. I completely judged a book by it’s cover but then was also intrigued at the plot – the arrival of the Four Horsemen. I was excited to get into this, excited to see how it goes and how the story would unfold. And I was not disappointed in the least.
I’m a huge fan of end-of-days and apocalyptic movies but I honestly haven’t really ventured into books of the same subject matter. And I don’t know why!! Because I friggen loved this book.
The Four Horsemen arrive on Earth and send the world into a tailspin. They go dormant for a few years, I think in an effort to see if humanity can turn itself around… which they don’t. So, some divine order wakes Pestilence up and sends him on a journey spreading the plague.
Sara, our fierce heroine, tries to stop Pestilence and fails… and then becomes his prisoner. As their journey progresses, Pestilence finds his presuppositions about humanity challenged. Though there are moments that still make him question how salvageable the world really is, what he finds in Sara, and a few other characters, is a new view of what the positive energy of people can create.
Yes, it’s hard to resolve how Sara could ever develop feelings for a being that would kill humanity. I won’t lie. It was a little difficult to get past that. But the slow-burn nature of their relationship… seeing Pestilence evolve and realize his own thoughts and feelings… Pestilence isn’t killing off humanity because he enjoys it. It’s his divine mission. He doesn’t feel pleasure and joy from it. It’s why he exists. And Sara begins to realize this and how Pestilence is burdened by this mission.
Though the romance is slow-burn, I really thought the prose and storyline were wonderful. The writing was great and I’m excited to read the rest of this series!!
A rating. Wow…so creative to successfully write this as a romance. I can’t wait to see how the author tackles all four of these books. This was definitely a mind-blowing start to the series.
Format: Ebook
Read Time: 24 hours (I was sick so binged it)
The Good:
Dark brooding atmosphere, realistic character progression and flaws. Surprisingly good romance arc despite the setting.
A Canadian leading lady! The book starts out in Whistler and roves around Canada before dipping into the USA.
Atmosphere- it’s dark, really dark and comes across well.
The romance arc- progresses at a good pace with all the problems you would expect. Pestilence is far from human and reacts to situations and dialogue in a way that marks this out without constantly having to drive the point home.
Our leading lady- she is a firefighter. She swears, grumbles and snarls at the world. The book is told from her POV and very voicey, but I liked being in her headspace. She has a lot to deal with and does not always make the best choices, but the world is ending, you are more than willing to cut her some slack.
Emotional investment- There were sad bits, one of them made me tear up.
Pacing- cracks on with a blistering pace and I burned through the pages.
The Bad: (Sort of)
Triggers, shallow worldbuilding, over the top on the sexy. (Yes, that is a thing!)
If you have triggers or sensitivities to religion this is not the book for you- The ‘bad’ parts of the apocalypse are highlighted in visceral detail. Don’t like that then don’t read.
Worldbuilding- the focus is the central relationship and the characters arcs. If you are looking for a detailed and nuanced breakdown of the end of the world you won’t find it here.
Sexy- I’m all for characters banging, but this did set my teeth on edge at times due to it being 100% amazing all the time. Would have liked a smidge of realism here too. (Yes, I am picky, bite me.)
Overall, deserves the hype. Will be reading the next one.
Firstly, I want to a give a big thumbs up to artist @reginawamba of this gorgeous book cover design! It really is stunning and I can see why our heroine fell head over heal for our hero, he really is perfect .
As far as book is concerned, I struggled a little bit with the storyline. I found it to be pretty grim and quite gruesome at times. Some of the scenes are quite graphic, so if you’re triggered by violence and torture, then this book is not for you.
Pestilence is unleashed upon the earth to spread disease and bring about the end of humanity. As he rides across the Canadian countryside, his path crosses with that of our heroine, Sara Burn, who has been tasked to bring an end to his existence. Obviously, she was unsuccessful in her attempt and ends up becoming his prisoner. He decided to spare her life and travel with him across the world, to bear witness to the suffering and death of humanity.
I have to admit that I did struggle a bit with this book. There’s just so much doom and gloom for the most part of the storyline and it got a bit depressing at one stage. What I did like was the love that blossomed between Pestilence and Sara. It was tender and really endearing to witness, and made him seem somewhat more human than a deity. I’ve decided not to continue with this series as it wasn’t for me.
He was Pestilence and Pestilence was who he was. He was his purpose.
Sara Burns gets the bad draw and has to stay behind to make an attempt to kill Pestilence, the warrior on horseback infecting people with an incurable plague. But how are you supposed to defeat a man who cannot die?
Although I wasn’t a fan of the vast quantity of profanity, I still loved this book. The story was fascinating. I really enjoyed the morally gray areas the author touched on in. Both Sara and Pestilence grew quite a bit as characters and the interactions between them were enjoyable.
This was a great read that swept me into the story, and I found myself not wanting to put the book down. Definitely looking forward to reading War next.
Wow! What an amazing world this author has built! I was hooked from page one.
4.5 Stars (Seriously, why are there no half-star ratings?)
I loved the concept for the series: apocalyptic romance? Four horsemen falling in love with mere mortals during their down time from destroying the world? I knew it wouldn’t be easy to weave a credible love story in which a killer like Pestilence could redeem himself. Pestilence was not only responsible for millions of deaths–at times, he was cruel, and brutally cruel to the heroine. At moments, I didn’t know whether I could get behind him or the romance.
Thalassa ultimately and mostly convinced me of the authenticity of Pestilence’s nature. Too many romances that try to explain the actions of “bad” men miss the mark. I won’t spoil it, but I’ll say that, for me, Thalassa mostly pulled it off. Even though I wasn’t 100% comfortable with a few things here, I was hooked and couldn’t stop listening. The proof is in the fact that I liked it enough to immediately buy the next book.
One of my favorite takes on the Four Horsemen. This series is one of my favorites!
Ok so here’s the thing, I really enjoyed this book… even when I didn’t want to. I’m not a big fan of the heroine talking for the asshole sub genre of romance. I really don’t like the idea of a woman falling for a man that literally set out to punish her and pushed her close to death more times than I can count. And yet, because this is an apocalyptic fantasy romance, I’m giving it a pass on all of that. I don’t like myself for it but I did like the book and the characters. I liked the way the characters grew over time and that there were still issues between them right up until the last page but that they agreed to work on those things together and accept each other. I like the idea of choosing love over vengeance or fate or a calling. So yeah, if you’re reading this it’s probably bc the concept caught your attention( just like it did mine, because really a romance about the four horsemen of the apocalypse is genius and This author pulls it off. Well done.